Sode no Saphira
by Saphiress
Summary: When Wolfrm comes in contact with a mysterious Sapphire pendent he falls into a death like state, to find the antidote Yuri and the others must journey to a far away human kingdom, but the owner, a flame from Gwendal and Conrad's past...
1. Chapter 1

During the Great War 20 years ago many lost their lives, yet at the same time heroes came to the surface, 'the Lion of Lütenberg', 'the four great Mayoku users', 'Saphira of the White Sleeve' and 'White Julia'. Loved ones were lost and while Conrad lost his closest friend Gwendal lost the love of his life, but she didn't die, she had abandoned Shin Makoku and left in disgrace choosing to save the life of a human boy over the southern border, her hatred to war and her blood stained hands had pushed her over the edge going as far as threatening the regent's life.

Her vast amount of Mayoku and perfect control made her one of the strongest fighters and healers within the army, but no one could stop her from leaving, Stoffel could not risk sending valuable man power after her only to have them sent back empty handed. Soon, she vanished, no one knew where she was or if she was even alive.

When Wolfram comes in contact with an Emerald cut Sapphire pendent he falls into a death like trance, black vines begin to form on his fingertips which had touched the stone slowly spreading throughout his body. Recognizing the pendent, Shinou sends them on a journey to a small human kingdom where a vast mass of Mayoku resides, Yuri, Conrad, Gwendal and Murata set off on a journey to find owner of the Sapphire but Yuri gets the feeling Conrad is holding something back and as is Gwendal.

**Chapter 1**

Gwendal's cry of fear and surprise echoed through the castle as he was once again subjected to Annissina's torture fulfilling his role as a guineapig.

"Poor Gwendal," sighed Yuri as he threw the baseball at Conrad.

"Don't worry, he's resilient, this much won't kill him," answered his godfather.

"Think of it this way," said Wolfram. "Would you rather it be him, or you?"

"Good point," agreed the young King catching the ball Conrad threw at him. "I wonder how it all started."

"Anniue probably offered to help her thinking of it as a one off thing but ended up getting caught in her web," guessed Wolfram. "Although I don't remember him with any injuries in the past…"

"They were healed," answered Conrad.

"By who?" asked Wolfram, suddenly his eyes widen and narrowed as he remember. "Of course, who else."

"Eh? Who?" asked Yuri.

"Never mind!" said the selfish loafer quickly. "Ah! That's right, Conrad do you remember where the 'Black Pearls of Avalon' are?"

"Huh? Why?"

"Hahaue wanted to turn them into a necklace," answered Wolfram.

"If I remember correctly they were last seen in the treasury room near the old maps and borderlines," answered Conrad, Wolfram stood up. "Are you going to get them now?"

"Yeah, before I forget and before Hahaue remembers," he answered.

* * *

"The old maps?" muttered Wolfram under his breath as he made his way across the treasury room. "Ah! There they are," he remarked when he spotted the pile of scrolls near the far wall, as he made he way towards them he fell and landed onto floor. "Oww, why do I have to do this?" he muttered sitting up, right in front of him was a small black box made for a dark oak and silver hinges.

"What's this?" he asked opening it, inside was a beautiful Emerald cut Sapphire pendent decorated with white gold vines and a three leaf clover which attached it to a silver chain. "Where have I seen this before?" he wondered reaching out to touch it, but the moment he did black light emitted from the gem and vines a black shadow began to form around his fingertips. "What's goin-" but he couldn't finish his sentence, as the black vines wrapped themselves around his arm they closed up around his neck, all he could do was scream.

* * *

Guards rushed to the room when they heard the scream, carrying the unconscious male to his room.

"What happened?" asked Yuri as Greta sobbed quietly in his arms.

"He was holding this," said Docarcos holding up a small box with a sapphire pendent inside. "Do you think it had something to do with-" he reached inside to touch it but gasped as he pulled his hand away, Yuki turned around to see Gisela, he mayoku surrounding the necklace.

"Don' touch it!" She commanded. "What if it had something to do with what happened to Lord Wolfram? Do you _want_ to give me more work?" she asked.

"Yes Sergeant! I mean no Sergeant!" exclaimed Docarcos.

"Your majesty, please step back," said Gisela kindly.

"Ah, oh, yeah sure," replied Yuri moving aside for her. The healer reached her hand over Wolfram and began to release her mayoku; she closed her eyes but gasped and pulled her hand back.

"T-This can't be," she stuttered. "This mayoku…"

"Gisela?" asked Yuri.

"I-I'm sorry your majesty, but please excuse me," she exclaimed bowing and hurrying out the door.

"But what about Wolfram?" asked Greta.

"His life is in no danger," she shouted. She soon returned with Gwendal and Conrad behind her, Gwendal leaned in and examined the vines careful not to touch them.

"She's right," he said quietly. "This is indeed her mayoku. You there!" He shouted at Docarcus.

"Y-Yes?"

"The box, hand it over," he said holding out his hand. The moment the box touched his palm he snatched it towards him and opened it, his eyes widened when he saw what was inside. "This belonged to-" Conrad looked over his shoulder.

"Conrad?" asked Yuri.

"Saphira," he said quietly recognizing the pendent. "The very same one _you_ gave her."

"If the curse she placed on it still works then-"

"Hey, what's going on?" asked Yuri.

"She's still alive," finished Conrad. Gwendal snapped the box shut and hurried out the door with Conrad behind him.

"Neh, Gisela, what's going on?" asked Yuri. The healer blushed and looked down at her fingers.

"There is no way for me to remove the vines on Wolfram's body, I'm very sorry your majesty," she apologised.

"What? Why?" Gisela opened her mouth to answer but closed it. "Please."

"That pendent belonged to a former Captain-Commander," answered Gisela naming the second highest title in the army. "S-she was a very powerful mayoku user, one of the four greatest alongside Julia, her majesty and Annissina, perhaps even stronger than all three. Her mayoku was said to be a closer than Shinou that anyone else in history, aside from you your majesty of course," she added. "She had a fondness for jewellery, poisons, weapons and high class tea and sweets. She created many different poisons; one was similar to the Wyncote poison; others forced the absolute truth from its victims and some could even completely change the person's appearance.

But one day one of them went missing and appeared on the black market, she retrieved it and placed a curse on all her prized items so no one other than her could touch them. The main symptom of the curse was that black vines would begin to spread around their body absorbing their Mayoku to grow, in worst cases they would become immobile being unable to move and fall unconscious."

"What type of person would create such a thing?" demanded Yuri. Gisela looked slightly offended at his remark.

"The curse is harmless, if removed within the fortnight there would be no after effects aside from being very shaken and scared, but it left on any longer the vines would begin to not only drain their mayoku but their life force and soul as well. It was designed to create fear and panic in others so they wouldn't even dare think of stealing them."

"So all you have to do is remove the curse then,' remarked Yuri. Gisela shook her head.

"No one knows how aside from the person herself."

"Then we'll go get her and-" Gisela shook her head.

"About 21 years ago during the Great War she left Shin Makoku."

"What? Why?"

"So had decided to save the life of a boy over protecting the southern border," she explained. "But she still managed to push them back, there were little to no casualties and they'd even solidified their hold to the south but…"

"But?"

"The regent, Stoffel von Spirtzberg became upset with her actions, she had disobeyed him and he began to fear what others might think of him with the way she undermined him. She chose the life of one boy over the border, one _human _boy at that. The story is that he had he whipped and exiled but we all know that isn't true, it was just a story so that he could save face."

"What really happened then?"

Gisela smiled. "She had appeared behind him and held a knife to his throat, no one even saw her twitch let alone realise until it was too late that she had a knife to his throat. A room filled with the highest ranked nobles, along side were Gwendal and Conrad and not one of them could stop her."

"What happened next?"

"She told him she had enough of the war, and that she was to leave the army, the regent threatened her and her position as the daughter of Lord von Radford and Captain-Commander but she didn't back down. She casted aside her title, her land, her power and left Shin Makoku. No one had heard of her since, everyone thought she was dead, but that box proves…"

"Huh?"

"When someone dies, their Mayoku dies with them, unless they are kept in a state similar to Shinou, but her curse on the pendent is still vibrant proving she's still alive and well," Gisela's expression looked as if she would burst into tears of joy.

"Conrad said Gwendal gave her that pendant, were they together?" asked Yuri.

"Huh? Oh no, she was marriage with two children to Lord Isley von Christ, Qiqiue's younger brother by many years, he was almost like a son to him and a brother to me," replied Gisela.

"Was?" asked Greta quietly.

"Both Oji-sama and his two children died during the war, she then moved in to the castle on Cheri-sama's orders, it was probably then that she left her pendent in the Treasury room."

"Then do you where she is? We need to find her to remove the curse!"

"I don't know, I'm sorry your majesty but I really don't know."

* * *

Gwendal sat at his desk as he held the pendent in his hands, he and she alone were able to touch it without the curse activating, something that only the two of them could touch.

_Gwendal laid on his bed with an ice pack on his forehead moaning._

"_Stop whinging," snapped a sharp voice. "Are you or are you not a man?" she demanded._

"_Shut up, I'm in pain," replied Gwendal, she laughed and placed her hand on his chest, instantly he felt better, his broken leg fully healed. "You are a miracle worker," he remarked sitting up and kissing her on the cheek._

"_No, just a healer," she answered with a soft smile. "I wish I could heal your forehead."_

"_Why?" he asked not getting the joke._

"_That way I can cure you of that scary expression you always have," she answered. Gwendal rolled his eyes and laid back down, she got up to leave but Gwendal grabbed hold of her wrist._

"_Stay," he said quietly._

"_Why? You're already healed," she asked confused. Gwendal closed his eyes._

"_I'm still not feeling well," he replied._

"_Where?" _

He raised his hand and placed it over his chest.

"Right here," he said quietly. He remembered the countless times she'd saved him from Annissina and her light hearted laugh whenever he went to her seeking help. She was always there for him, when his father died, when Dan Hiri Weller died, when his younger brother went to fight an up hill battle, even when he merely needed someone to help him with the paper work.

When her husband and children died she stayed at the castle on his mother's suggestion, yet instead of comforting her and her loss he took advantage of her vulnerable moment, his words of 'I love you' never truly penetrated the pain and grief.

Or so he thought.

"_Gwendal, I… all this time…"_ the sentence she never finished ended with the same three words he wanted to tell her.

I love you


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

_Gwendal sat with his arm out in front of him as she worked her healing Mayoku on his arm._

"_Annissina?" she asked, Gwendal nodded, she busted into a fit of laughs. "You're useless you know that?" she managed to say between giggles. "Absolutely useless."_

"_What am I suppose to do then?" asked Gwendal. "She doesn't take no for an answer."_

"_And that should stop you because?" she asked. "Never mind, I heard you entered from the Academy top of your year."_

"_Of course," replied Gwendal. ""lm the first son of the Maou__**, you're**__ only twenty and yet you managed to get in as well…second." He added slyly. She sighed._

"_Expectations," she said quietly. "Which is exactly why I'm glad I'm an illegitimate child, no one expects anything out of you?"_

"_You're still the Royal Lady; the first female of the Radford line in…decades. What will you do?"_

"_I have it all planned out, do a few years in the army, make daddy proud then marry a rich noble and live the rest of my life without the need to lift a finger," she answered, Gwendal laughed._

"_You really are lazy," he remarked._

"_I don't want to spend my life at court or on the battle field," she replied. "Maybe for a few years but once all the glory disappears all you're left with are blood stained hands."_

"_And here I though you'd be one of those revolutionary woman who declare to be a single woman," noted Gwendal._

"_Leave the heroics to Annissina, the sweet smiles to Julia-neesama and the romance to Cheri-sama," she answered. "All I want out of life is a good book and bed."_

Gwendal opened his eyes and sat up, he smiled to himself. She was no lily maiden but a red rose, she loved to taunt others and found pleasure in watching Gwendal suffer at the hands of Annissina and his mother and loved to tease him relentlessly. She was the last person he'd expect to save a life, a human life at that.

'If it's too much trouble, don't bother," was her favourite quote "Watch the clouds go by", "Laziness is the key to world peace" and "Men are either jerks or idiots". Her interpretation of anything was without a doubt, unique. Gwendal reached for the pendant and squeezed it in his palm.

"Saphira," he said quietly. "If you were alive all this time, why?"

_Two large doors swung open with a loud THUMP._

"_Wake up!" said a young Gwendal as he entered the bedroom, there was a quiet groan but aside from that no reaction. "Saphira," he said with a sigh. "Today's the first day of school at this academy for us; we have a welcoming ceremony, do you really want to be late? You're the year level representative if you don't remember."_

_A head appeared from under the sheets. "Go away!" she shouted her long black hair a mess around her._

"_It's because you were out drinking with Conrad until late last night," said Gwendal with a frown. "Honestly, you are the lady royal; the first daughter; of the Radford family, you must set an example to your siblings and your relatives." The head which had disappeared back under the covers reappeared._

"_Set __**this**__ in that thick skull of yours! Get lost!" she snapped before once again disappearing, a few moments later she was already asleep again._

"_Saphira," Gwendal grabbed hold of the end of her bed sheets and tugged pulling them onto the ground._

"_Jerk," she muttered hiding her head under the pillow. Gwendal couldn't help but notice that she slept in only her underwear and a thin white night gown._

"_Saphira," he repeated. Saphira sighed and sat up with a yawn._

"_Fine," she muttered and climbed out of bed. She walked dazed into the private bathroom attached to her dorm room to wash her face and brush her teeth. "Gwendal, can you pour me a cup of tea?" she asked. Gwendal looked around the room to see a beautiful tea set, only the cups were round, almost cylinder, like small plant pots, the teapot itself was back with a rod shaped handle instead of a round one._

"_What is this?" he asked. "No, better question, __**where**__ did you get this?"_

"_Huh?" Saphira peered in from the bathroom. "That I got as a gift from a merchant, he got it from this place in the east, a country called…what was it called? 'Avalon' that's it, apparently the customs and such there are really different, did you know that while the humans here were still wearing leaves, the people there were already wearing silk?"_

_How interesting," said Gwendal in a bored monotone, human affair's didn't interest him. "Get dressed or you'll be late."_

"_I don't want to go!" she complained with a mouthful of toothpaste._

"_Well too bad!" Gwendal replied as she re-entered the room. "Get dressed."_

"_Get out," she answered._

"_Pardon?"_

"_Get out so I can get dressed," she elaborated._

"_Oh! Yeah," Gwendal quickly left the room, most of the time Saphira was a laid back and extremely lazy person, who, if the right words were used could be persuaded to be reasonable, but she was anger, bored or frustrated she was foul tempered and had lashed out at even the Maou Cecelie._

"_Done, come in," she called. Gwendal re-entered her bedroom, she wore a simple royal blue gown over a white chemise and petticoat with a low collar, it was one of her favourite games with the numerous suitors that were after her family fortune, reel them in and knock them down, hard and fast making it painful at the same time. "How much longer?" she asked starting on her long nails, reapplying a coat of dark blue polish._

"_You have an hour." She frowned at him. "What?"_

"_I could have slept for another hour and you woke me? Honestly, do you not know when to stop for your own health?" she asked, Gwendal didn't answer. "Gwendal, help me with my hair would you?" she asked._

"_Why did you paint your nails then?" he questioned but obeyed anyway and was already brushing out her hair with a comb, it was as long as his mothers but extremely straight, like silk threads._

"_Do you really want me to attend with chipped nail polish from the night before after getting into a fight?" she replied._

"_What happened?"_

"_Umm," she began trying to remember the night before. "Got hit on, Conrad got defensive, the other guy swung, Conrad swung back and it led to a big fight, but me, Yozak and Conrad out before the patrol came."_

"_Did you get into a bar fight?" demanded Gwendal giving her a warning tug of the hair._

"_Oww, no, I'm not fool enough to fight a half drunk nincompoop, it wouldn't be fair on their part."_

"_What happened then?"_

"_These men tried to rob us on our way back, I just showed the wonders of the ground," she answered with a casual shrugged, Gwendal tied her hair up in a bun, holding it in place with a few pins.._

"_So basically, you snuck out, met Conrad despite know he's still underage-"_

"_He's only three years younger than me," she interjected, adding several sapphire hair pins to her hair and putting on a matching necklace, ring and bracelet. "Not my fault I got into the academy earlier than I planned, I tell you I bet my father paid them or something, you like…many __**many**__ years older than the both of us."_

"_-you went to a bar with Conrad and Yozak despite knowing that they both are still underage, Conrad got into a bar fight, you three managed to dodge the patrol and then you beat up three, probably now sterile knowing you, men and you say that with a smile?" Saphira thought for a moment._

"_Yep. It was fun. If you didn't have a stick up your bum I'd had ask you to join us."_

_Gwendal rolled his eyes. "Honestly."_

"_Again with that judgmental look of yours, just because your life consists of kissing arse and horses doesn't mean everyone else's is."_

"_K-kissin-?"_

"_You heard me, now," she stood up. "Let's get this over and done with," she declared before she looked to check to see if her nails were dry._


End file.
